Scriptures:
Proverbs 19:21
Proverbs 29:18
Ephesians 4:1
Psalms 128:1-2
Introduction
Proverbs 19:21
Many plans are in a person’s heart, But the advice of the LORD will stand.
October 2021 there was in interesting story on the news in Turkey
A 50-year-old man named Beyhan Mutlu…had gotten drunk at a bar.
Wife called the police and they put together a search party.
He stumbled upon the search party…and joined it
He was looking for himself
https://youtu.be/L4wkEm2lLYg?si=xOgTRWPEmZP7nPMs
Following the crowd
didn't know what he was looking for
looking for himself
Some of us are like Beyhan
Following the crowd
A lot of us have blindly followed the crowd all our lives
Go to school, get a good education, get a good job, get married, have 2.5 kids
Didn't know what he was looking for
We don’t really know what the actual goal is
We know we are searching for something
… and we know we haven’t found it
…but we don’t really know what it is
“I just know there has to be more to life than this”
“Everytime I fix a problem, another problem pops up”
Life just keeps lifing
You’ve been climbing the ladder of success and realized that it’s leaning up against the wrong wall?
looking for himself
Why Having a Purpose Matters
Have you wondered “what does it all mean” and “why am I here”?
Today we will talk about that
Subject for today is Why Having a Purpose Matters
Agenda:
Introduction
Review
Why Your Purpose is Important
Making God a Priority
Conclusion
Review
Your purpose versus your calling
The theory of evolution says that the universe was created by chance by some random events
Those events defy the laws of science
Matter from non-matter
Life from non-life
The Bible tells us that everything was created by God, the Designer, for a reason
The manufacturer of something knows the purpose for which the item was created better than anyone else…including the creation
Purpose is often described as the "why"—the fundamental reason something exists. It's the destination or the end goal.
A calling implies that there was a caller
Your calling is the purpose that God called you to
A calling is God‘s invitation for your participation and the reason for your creation
–Darius Daniels
Call is a verb and a noun
We will refer to your specific assignment in this season as a role or assignment
Pastor
Doctor
Mother, father
Usher
Barista
Universal Callings
Christians are called to:
glorify God
serve others
Make disciples
We also have a specific calling
Your purpose is to use your unique gifts, talents, and abilities to serve others and glorify God
Why Your Purpose is Important
Rick Warren’s Purpose driven life is one of the best selling non-fiction books of all time
Why are so many people trying to find their purpose?
It might be because you feel empty inside
You know that something is missing in your life
Why am I here?
What is the point of it all?
+
Running in place
Progressing without progressing
Just surviving
Inst there more?
Happiness
How can people be happy?
+
Hope
Lack of stress
Not hurting other people
Raise your hand if you would like to be happy all the time?
Raise your hand if you liked the movie the titanic
Experience a Range of Emotions
Story: weeping dandelions
Experience the whole range of emotions
Something needs to happen in the middle
Asteroid
Kidnapping
Cheated
Ending is happier if some bad things happen in the middle
Story: Friend left boyfriend because it was going too good
boring
You Don’t Always Choose Happiness
What are some times in your life when you chose something else over your own happiness?
Children
Helping homeless
Why do people want children?
Do children always make you happy?
Every decision you make regarding your kids… Was it so that you could be happy?
Getting up to feed them in the middle of the night
What time they went to bed
What school they went to
Premise: You sometimes intentionally make decisions that won’t lead to happiness
Example: my dad works two jobs
If they didn’t have kids they could’ve lived a more luxurious life
Millennials are choosing not to have kids… So that they can be happy
Working extra hours or an extra job so that they could live a good life
Consistency
Your mind wants consistency
Your behaviours matches your actual: thoughts and values
Not just what you say to other people
Your actions are in alignment with your beliefs
Self-sabotage
Low Self Image
When you feel like a failure you’ll try to demonstrate it to yourself
You subconsciously try to provoke a similar feeling in people around you
Control Your Failure
When you think you might not succeed at something, you sabotage it so at least you were in control of it
Start an argument in a relationship
Picking fights
Micro-managing
Becoming clingy and needy
Break up with someone because you think they’re going to break up with you
Stay up late before a job interview
Procrastination
This is driven by a fear of failure
Protects our self esteem because we can blame external forces if we fail
Avoid Uncertainty
Study: Researchers found that people were far more stressed when told
50% chance of getting shocked vs 100% chance of getting shocked
Our brains hate uncertainty
“Something bad might happen” produces anxiety
People would rather have pain than uncertainty
Or we don’t give our best effort
We’d rather fail than take the risk of pursuing success
We remove the uncertainty of success, and guarantee the certainty of failure
Some people choose a life approach of “expecting the worst”
We’re trying to suppress our emotions of:
Sadness
regret
Conclusion
Happiness isn’t a practical goal
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is one who keeps the Law.
Meaning
Is it more important to succeed or to do something that matters?
“It's not as important to succeed as it is to matter
And you'll likely achieve the former if you aim for the latter”
–Sam Altman
Working for the Weekend
You don’t want to be happy all the time
But you do want to be happy some of the time
Goals
Vacation
Restaurant
Nightclub
We work all week
So we can escape on the weekend
Wouldn’t you rather build a life that you don't have to escape
“When man can't find meaning in his life, he distracts himself with pleasure”
—Viktor Frankl
Story: Cathedral for God
Result of living a Life without meaning
I was dying
To get out of high school and get to college
To get to finish college and start my career
To get married and start a family
For the kids to move out and go to college
To retire
now I’m just dying
It’s never too late to start
Purpose Makes Suffering Easier
Story: gym pain
if you don’t have a “why” it’s hard to stay motivated
My perceived purpose of the pain changed my perspective of the pain
When you have a reason for doing something
Impacts how satisfied you are doing it
Purpose can give meaning to your pain
Having a “why”, having a purpose, helps make the suffering easier
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
If you don’t have a purpose to attain
All you can focus on is your pain
–Michael Leadon
You only get fulfillment when you are in purpose
Your Purpose Gives You Clarity
When you find your purpose
your purpose is your permission
E.g. this Bible study
You stop waiting to feel qualified
You stop waiting to be discovered
Stop blaming others for not seeing you for who you are
When you know your purpose
You know what to say “no” to
When we decide what’s next
That we are on the right path
that we won’t regret our next move
we are looking for clarity and certainty
When your goals are not connected to your purpose
Any change it feels like the right change
Any move feels like the right move
Making God a Priority
Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
God should be a priority in your life
Not necessarily that you spend all of your time helping the church,
your focus should be centered around God’s calling on your life
We need to make sure that our relationship with God is a priority in our lives
Conclusion
job vs work
Your job is what they pay you to do… Your purpose is what you were born to do
your job gives you finances… Your purpose gives you fulfillment
You can be fired from your job… You can never be fired from your purpose
Jesus’ job was being a Carpenter with his father… His purpose was saving the human race
No one can keep a man down who knows his purpose
It’s like a seed becoming a tree
once you put it in the right environment… You can’t stop it
When you have a purpose you’ll have
a reason for the rat race
A method to the madness
A path through the pain
As we go through this series…
We are going to try to sort out the difference between what you want to do and what you were called to do
Psalms 128:1-2
1Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.
2When you eat the fruit of the labor of your hands,
You will be happy and it will go well for you.
References
Walk Into Your Purpose
Michael Leadon
How to know the purpose of your life: find direction with Miles Monroe
Monroe global
How to Deal with Uncertainty - Without Self-Sabotage
https://youtu.be/aiXMlJKlFzw?si=-sFY1UR801qC6RIN
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